List of Australian flags

This is a list of flags of different designs that have been used in Australia.

National flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1908–present	Australian National Flag, naval jack and state ensign	A Blue Ensign defaced with the seven-point Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half.
	1903–1908	Historic national flag as approved by King Edward VII	A Blue Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star (with 6 points) in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (all stars had seven points, except the smallest star only had 5 points).
	1901–1903	Historic flag, original 1901 Federal Flag Design Competition winner	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star (with 6 points) in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (each star had a varying number of points: 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5). It was first flown in Melbourne on 3 September 1901. That day is known as Flag Day.
	1971–present	Australian Aboriginal Flag	A black and red flag with a yellow circle in the middle.
Link to file	1992–present	Torres Strait Islander Flag	A five-pointed star and traditional headdress in white, on a blue, green and black background.

Personal flags

Sovereign

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1962–present	Personal Australian Flag of Queen Elizabeth II

Governor-General

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1953–present	Flag of the Governor-General of Australia	A crowned lion standing on a crown on a blue field. The crown used is St Edward's Crown.
	1936–1953	Flag of the Governor-General of Australia	A crowned lion standing on a crown on a blue field. The crown used is the Tudor Crown.
	1909–1936	Flag of the Governor-General of Australia	A Union Flag defaced with a seven pointed star, crowned, surrounded by ears of corn and a gold circlet. The crown used is the Tudor Crown.
	1902–1909	Flag of the Governor-General of Australia	A Union Flag defaced with a six pointed star, crowned, surrounded by ears of corn and a gold circlet. The crown used is the Tudor Crown.

State Governors

Main article: Flags of the Governors of the Australian states

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1981–present	Flag of the Governor of New South Wales	The State Flag with a crowned badge.
	1876–present[lower-alpha 1]	Flag of the Governor of Queensland	The Union Flag defaced with the state badge.
	1975–present	Flag of the Governor of South Australia	The State Flag with a crowned badge.
	1977–present	Flag of the Governor of Tasmania	The State Flag with a crowned badge.
	1984–present	Flag of the Governor of Victoria	The State Flag with a yellow field and crowned southern cross.
	1988–present	Flag of the Governor of Western Australia	The State Flag with a crowned badge.

Prime Minister

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1950s–1966	Car Flag of the Prime Minister of Australia	The Australian national flag defaced with the coat of arms of Australia placed between the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross. Used by Robert Menzies in the 1950s and 1960s.[1][2][3]

States and territories

States

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1876–present	Flag of New South Wales	A St George's Cross with four gold stars and a lion in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1876–present[lower-alpha 1]	Flag of Queensland	A light blue Maltese cross with a crown on a white background in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1904–present	Flag of South Australia	A piping shrike on a gold background in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1875–present	Flag of Tasmania	A red lion on a white background in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1877–present[lower-alpha 1]	Flag of Victoria	The Southern Cross surmounted by a crown in the fly of a British blue ensign.
	1953–present	Flag of Western Australia	A black swan on a gold background in the fly of a British blue ensign.

Internal territories

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1993–present	Flag of the Australian Capital Territory	One third blue with the Southern Cross, the other two thirds are yellow with the Coat of Arms of Canberra.
	1978–present	Flag of the Northern Territory	One third black with the Southern Cross, the other two thirds are brown with Sturt's Desert Rose, the floral emblem of the Territory.

External territories

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	2002–present	Flag of Christmas Island	The blue and green diagonal panels represent the sea and the island's vegetation, a small map of the island is included in the centre. The main emblem is a golden bosun bird. The flag was selected from a competition held in 1986 and was approved in 2002.
	2004–present	Flag of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands	The flag is green, with a palm tree on a gold disc in the canton, a gold crescent for the Cocos Malay people in the centre of the flag and a gold southern cross in the fly. The flag was designed in 2003 becoming official in 2004.
	1980–present	Flag of Norfolk Island	A green field with a white square containing a green Norfolk Island pine.

Civil ensigns

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1909–present	Australian Red Ensign	A British Red Ensign with the Commonwealth Star at the hoist, and the Southern Cross in the fly half.
	1903–1909	Red Ensign as approved by King Edward VII	A Red Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star (with 6 points) in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (all stars had seven points).
	1901–1903	Red version of the 1901 Federal Flag Design Competition winner	A British Red Ensign defaced with the Commonwealth Star (with 6 points) in the lower hoist quarter and the five stars of the Southern Cross in the fly half (each star had a varying number of points: 9, 8, 7, and 6).
	1948–present	Australian Civil Air Ensign	Based on the British Civil Air Ensign, with the addition of the Southern Cross and Commonwealth Star in white.
	1935–1948	Australian Civil Air Ensign	Based on the British Civil Air Ensign, with the addition of the Southern Cross and Commonwealth Star in yellow.

Australian Defence Force

Flag	Date	Use	Description
Link to file	2000–present	Australian Defence Force Ensign	A tricolour of dark blue (navy); red (army) and light blue (airforce) with the Triservice badge.

Royal Australian Navy

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1967–present	Australian White Ensign	Based on the British White Ensign, a version of the national flag with a white field and the Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross in blue.
	1911–1967	Royal Australian Navy Ensign	St George's Ensign or White Ensign: white field defaced with a thin Cross of Saint George, Union Flag in the first quarter. It was replaced by the Australian White Ensign.
	1920–present	Flag of the Chief of Navy	A fouled anchor on a red-blue background.
Link to file	2001–present	Australian Navy Cadets Ensign	A blue ensign with the Australian White Ensign in canton and the badge of the Australian Navy Cadets in the fly.
	1972–2001	Naval Reserve Cadets Ensign	A blue ensign with the Australian White Ensign in canton and the badge of the Naval Reserve Cadets in the fly. Replaced by the Australian Navy Cadets Ensign.
	1956–1972	Sea Cadet Corps	A blue ensign with the badge of the Sea Cadet Corps in the fly. Replaced by the Naval Reserve Cadets Ensign.

Royal Australian Air Force

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1982–present	Royal Australian Air Force Ensign	The national flag with a light blue field, the Southern Cross tilted and the RAAF roundel (Kangaroo) placed in the lower fly.
	1948–1982	Royal Australian Air Force Ensign	The national flag with a light blue field, the Southern Cross tilted and the RAAF roundel placed in the lower fly.
	1921–1948	Royal Australian Air Force Ensign	The British Royal Air Force Ensign.
	1982–present	Flag of the Australian Air Chief Marshal	Five horizontal stripes of dark blue, light blue, red, light blue and dark blue, four six-pointed stars in the middle stripe.

Australian Border Force

The department names of Australia's border protection service have slightly changed over time, they are as follows;

• Department of Trade and Customs (1 January 1901 – 1956)
• Department of Customs and Excise (1956–1975)
• Department of Police and Customs (1975–1975)
• Department of Business and Consumer Affairs (1975–1982)
• Department of Industry and Commerce (1982–1984)
• Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce (1984–1985)
• Australian Customs Service (1985–2009)
• Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (2009–2015)
• Australian Border Force (2015–Present)

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	2015–present	Australian Border Force Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "AUSTRALIAN BORDER FORCE"
	2015	Australian Border Force Flag as used temporarily	The Australian national flag defaced with "BORDER FORCE"
	1988–2015	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "CUSTOMS"
	1909–1988	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "HMC"
	1904–1909	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "HMC"
	1903–1904	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "HMC AUSTRALIA"
	1901–1903	Australian Customs Flag	The Australian national flag defaced with "HMC AUSTRALIA"

Federal and state police

Flag	Date	Use	Description
Link to file	1982–present	Flag of the Australian Federal Police	A black-white-black vertical tricolor, with the badge of the Australian Federal Police in the centre of the white stripe. A black-and-white checkerboard borders the flag.
Link to file	1981–present	Flag of the New South Wales Police Force	An azure-and-white horizontal bicolor with the badge of the New South Wales Police Force in the centre of the flag.
Link to file	2006–present	Flag of the Northern Territory Police	A variant of the Northern Territory flag with the Northern Territory Police badge replacing the flower in the fly.
Link to file	2006–present	Flag of the Queensland Police Service	A light blue-and-dark blue horizontal bicolor with the badge of the Queensland Police Service in the centre of the flag.
Link to file	1993–present	Flag of the South Australia Police	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the badge of the South Australia Police within a white disk.
	??–present	Flag of the Tasmania Police	An azure flag with the badge of the Tasmania Police in the centre of the flag.
Link to file	??–present	Flag of the Victoria Police	A British Blue Ensign defaced with the badge of the Victoria Police.
	2005–present	Flag of the Western Australia Police	A white flag with a stylised depiction of a swan and checkerboard in blue, with the Western Australia Police emblem added.

Cities and areas

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1982–present	Armorial Flag of the City of Adelaide	Blue background divided into four quarters by a Saint George's Cross outlined in gold overlain with the Arms of the City of Adelaide. Flag bordered on three sides by diagonal blue and gold stripes.[4]
	1947–present[5]	Flag of the City of Brisbane	Blue background (representing the Brisbane River) bordered by a golden checker pattern (representing the Sun and Brisbane's warm climate) with the flag divided into six quarters. The upper hoist quarter contains a golden caducei superimposed on wavy white lines, representing the Brisbane River and its ties to the city's commerce. The lower hoist quarter contains two Stafford knots and a white star arranged vertically (all represent the achievements in astronomy of Sir Thomas Brisbane, for whom the city is named). The remaining segments alternate between these two designs. The flag design is based on the shield on the coat of arms of Brisbane.[6][7]
Link to file	2009–present	Flag of the City of Darwin	According to council policy, Darwin maintains two flags.[8] The policy reads "One flag will contain the official Coat of Arms, with its nine colours and the CITY OF DARWIN printed underneath in blue, on a yellow background flanked by red and green. The other flag will contain the City Logo and be in the colours of blue, green and white, on a white background."[9]
Link to file		Flag of the City of Hobart	The flag of Hobart City Council, of Tasmania, Australia. Designed in 1951 by Hobart architect and alderman, I.G. Anderson and first flown in 1953. The star is derived from the arms of Lord Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire (1760–1816), Secretary of State for War and the Colonies at the time of colonial settlement (1804), and after whom Hobart is named. The colour used on the arms Lord Hobart was, in fact, sable (black), rather than blue. The red lion is from the Tasmanian flag – and its location at the top of the shield signifies Hobart's position as the Capital City.[10]
		Flag of the City of Launceston	The Launceston flag design is based on the city's Coat of Arms granted by the College of Arms, London on 11 June 1957.[11] The Brisbane Street Mall, the War memorial at Royal Park, the original Queen Victoria Museum (now the Art Gallery) building, atop the Council Chambers and on top of the Albert Hall are places in the city where the flag is regularly flown. The three intersecting lines in the flag represent the city's three rivers (North Esk, South Esk and Tamar) and the two rectangles in the lines represent tin ingots. The strip across the top with the jagged edge is green to represent the city's parks, gardens and surrounding countryside. Waratah flowers at the top symbolise all flowers and similar beauties of nature. The ingots are included because Launceston used to be a large tin smelting centre. The little circle at the river junction is Launceston.
		Flag of the City of Melbourne	White background divided into four quarters by a Saint George's Cross outlined by a concise and overlain with St Edward's Crown. Quadrant features represent the main activities of the economy of the City of Melbourne in the mid 19th century and are, in a clockwise direction from top left, a fleece hanging from a red ring (wool), a black bull standing on a hillock (cattle), a three-mast ship in full sail (shipping), and a spouting whale in the sea (whaling). The flag design is identical to the shield on the coat of arms of Melbourne.[12]
	1961–present	Flag of the City of Newcastle	The colours are brown over green, taken from the shoulder patch of a Battalion raised in the Newcastle/Hunter region. The shield has a gold chief, containing a black diamond, a white sheep's fleece banded gold and a black wheel, representing the principal pursuits of the area: coal mining, farming and grazing, and industry and trade. Below this, the field is green, with a blue downward pointed triangle (pile) bordered gold, portraying a port with the waters of the sea thrusting into the green land. Fertility is emphasised by the gold border. The crest is a lighthouse, for the Nobby's Head lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour, and sits on a helmet with mural crown (city status) and blue, green and gold mantling. The arms stand on a compartment depicting the golden sand and white waves of the city's beaches (with a scroll inscribed "Enterprise") and are supported by two seagulls with mural crowns (the setting and nature of the city).[13]
	1949–present	Flag of the City of Perth	Saint George's Cross overlaid with the City of Perth Coat of Arms in the centre.[14]
	1908–present	Flag of the City of Sydney	The flag is a horizontal triband of three colours – white, gold and blue. The top third features three designs. In the top left the arms belong to Thomas Townshend, Viscount Sydney, after whom the city was named. The English Naval Flag in the centre acknowledges the role Arthur Philip played in Sydney's foundation. The red cross is overlaid with a globe and two stars – the principal features of James Cook's Arms, which were granted as a posthumous honour for his service in mapping Australia. The arms in the top right belong to the first Lord Mayor of Sydney, Thomas Hughes. It was during his term of office that the title of Mayor became Lord Mayor, and the official coat of arms for the city was granted. The remaining field of the flag features a ship under full sail, an allusion to the prominence of Sydney as a maritime port.[15]
	circa 1960–2008	Flag of the City of Toowoomba	The flag of Toowoomba city is a violet coloured ensign which makes reference to the city's floral emblem of the day, the Toowoomba Violet (aka the sweet violet, Lat. 'Viola odorata').[16] Notable is the city's coat of arms [17] in the centre of the ensign and the city's name on the left of the flag, lettered from top to bottom.[18]
	2008–present	Flag of Toowoomba	A new Toowoomba flag was created in 2007 and became the official flag of the Toowoomba Region on 15 March 2008 with the amalgamation of 8 councils; The councils were Clifton Shire, Crows Nest Shire, Cambooya Shire, Jondaryan Shire, Millmerran Shire, Pittsworth Shire, Rosalie Shire and Toowoomba City.[19] The predominant colours are white and teal. The three white rings in the flag intersect to create eight spaces from their loops and exterior, symbolising the unity of the eight amalgamated former councils. The colour of teal also respresents unity.[20]
Link to file	1965–present	Flag of Wagga Wagga	Officially, the Wagga Wagga City Flag is square.[21] The upper quarter of the flag contains eight stalks of wheat positioned so as to form two capital letters W on a vert (green) field. The lower quarter of the upper half of the flag contains a wavy blue line on gold (yellow) representing the river winding through the wheat fields. The lower half of the flag contains the head of a ram positioned centrally on a vert (green) field.
	1850–present	Upper Murray River Flag	Flown by vessels on the upper reaches of the Murray River, predominantly in Victoria. The blue bars are said to represent the four major rivers that form the Murray-Darling River system and their dark hue represents the darker colour of the Murray River's darker waters in Victoria and NSW.
	1850–present	Lower Murray River Flag	Flown by vessels on the lower reaches of the Murray River, predominantly in South Australia. The blue bars are said to represent the four major rivers that form the Murray-Darling River system and their light hue represents the lighter colour of the Murray River's lighter waters in South Australia.
	1998–present	Flag of Lord Howe Island, New South Wales	Despite being an unofficial flag of a state-integrated island, it is used to represent the island.

Religious flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Flag of the Anglican Church of Australia	A red St. George's Cross bordered in white, on a field of dark blue, with four white eight pointed stars in each of the four quarters. In the centre is a gold bishop's mitre.
		Flag of the Grand Orange Lodge of Australia	An orange ensign with the Australian flag in the canton and an open book surmounted by a Saint Edward's Crown in the lower fly.
		Flag of the Loyal Orange Institution of Victoria	An orange ensign with a Saint George's Cross in the canton, and a Southern Cross with a Saint Edward's Cross above it and an open book below it in the fly.

Historical flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1788–1801	Union Flag	The Union Flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Raised by Captain Arthur Phillip RN on 26 January 1788 at Sydney Cove upon the landing of the First Fleet.
	1801–1903	Union Flag	The Union Flag of the United Kingdom.
	1806	Bowman Flag	A white swallow-tail fly, with a crest featuring the Rose of England, the thistle of Scotland and the shamrock of Ireland supported by an emu and kangaroo. The design was an inspiration for Australia’s National Coat of Arms.
	1823/24–1831	National Colonial Flag for Australia	A British White Ensign, featuring four white stars on the red cross
	1830s–1920s	Australian Federation Flag	A British White Ensign, featuring the cross in blue with five white stars. It was the de facto flag of Australia from 1 January 1901 to 3 September 1901.
	1849–1853	Australasian Anti-Transportation League Flag	British Blue Ensign, with yellow Southern Cross and white border, to which branch names were added
	1850s–1875	Van Diemen's Land Ensign	A British White Ensign, featuring six blue bars
	1854	Eureka Flag	The battle flag of the Eureka Stockade featured the five stars of the constellation Crux Australis in white on a white cross and blue field
	1859	Queensland Separation Flag	The Queensland Separation Flag, flown on 10 December 1859 to mark Queensland becoming a separate colony from New South Wales. A red cross on a light blue field, with the Union Jack in the canton.
	1918	Australian Honour Flag
	1988	Bicentennial Flag	The 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia[22]
	2001	Centenary of Federation Flag	The 100th anniversary of Federation – the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia[22]

Sporting flags

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1908–1912	Flag of the Australasian Olympic Team	A Blue Ensign defaced by a white circle containing the British Crown plus a shield containing the Southern Cross.
Link to file	1983–present	Boxing Kangaroo sporting flag	A golden kangaroo wearing red boxing gloves on a green field.
	2000	Sydney Olympics sporting flag	[22]
	2006	Melbourne Commonwealth Games sporting flag	[22]

See also

• List of proposed Australian flags
• Advance Australia Fair
• Australian flag debate
• Flag of New Zealand

Notes

1. The rendition of the crown has changed according to the monarchs' wishes. In c. 1901 it was changed to the Tudor Crown, and in 1953 to the St Edward's Crown.

References

1. ABC Television show "Auction Room", 11 November 2012
2. Pg 207. Flags of the World, Barraclough, E.M.C., ISBN 978-0-72-322797-7
3. Jonathan Dixon; Ian MacDonald. "Prime Minister – Australia". Retrieved 4 November 2015.
4. "History of Council". Adelaide City Council. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
5. "The city standard, but do you recognise it?". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
6. "Symbols used by Council". Brisbane City Council. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
7. Jonathan Dixon; Ian MacDonald. "City of Brisbane (Queensland, Australia)". Retrieved 4 November 2015.
8. "Darwin (Northern Territory, Australia)".
9. "Council's Symbols" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
10. "Hobart Coat of Arms – City of Hobart, Tasmania Australia". Retrieved 20 September 2018.
11. "Coat of Arms". Launceston City Council. Archived from the original on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. "City of Newcastle (NSW, Australia)". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
14. "History of the Council". City of Perth. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
15. "Sydney's flag and flower". City of Sydney. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
16. "Arrowhead Voilet". Toowoomba Plants: Natives of the Region suitable for Gardens. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
17. "Toowoomba". Heraldy of the World. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
18. "Toowoomba Flags". toowoomba.org. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
19. "Toowoomba Region Amalgamation". Toowoomba Regional Council. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
20. "Toowoomba Flags". toowoomba.org. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
21. "Wagga Wagga City Flag". Retrieved 3 October 2016.
22. Historical Flags of Australia